Dharma teacher and activist Thanissara urges us to move “beyond a personal introversion and quietism” and apply the Buddha’s radical teachings to the catastrophe of climate change and its underlying causes.

One of the most useful contributions Buddhism can offer social action is the quality of equanimity. Yet indifference can masquerade as equanimity, providing a kind of “spiritual bypass” that whisks us away from the difficult encounter. How can we know true equanimity wherein we retain our connection to ourselves and the world?

The U.S. Government and media may be breaking the silence on climate change. How is it that we live our lives with only intermittent awareness of the truth of global warming? Is responding as difficult as we might think? Joseph Goldstein, cofounder of Insight Meditation Society, explores the teachings that shed light on these questions.